2025 Annual Pledge Giving
October 9, 2024
Dear St. Paul’s Family,
Stewardship is about gratitude. We are grateful for our sacred home, our beloved clergy, and our talented musicians; we are grateful for the countless volunteers who share their gifts to benefit this church and our community; and we are grateful for the glorious work that God is doing in and through all of us at St. Paul’s.
Our Lamps Lit–Hearts on Fire theme was chosen because it describes the boundless joy that comes when we are fully prepared to receive and share God’s love and light. This campaign, unlike the three-year capital campaign, is about raising funds to support St. Paul’s 2025 operating budget. But it’s about so much more than simply paying utility bills, salaries, insurance, and building maintenance costs. Lamps Lit–Hearts on Fire is about spreading joy through the light we cast. It’s about having the means to fund ministries that set our hearts, and those of others, on fire as we carry out Christ’s new covenant to love one another, and it’s about showing our gratitude for God’s enduring presence in our lives.
Last year 54% of St. Paul’s households made an annual pledge. Your stewardship team is praying that this year we can raise participation in the annual stewardship drive to 70-75%. Why pledge? Practically speaking, it helps the rector and the finance office to more accurately budget and plan priorities in the coming year. Pledging is also an important spiritual practice, giving thanks for God’s abundance in our lives. If you are a first-time pledger, give whatever amount makes you feel closer to God and our faith community. Every pledge matters. If fifty first-time pledgers offered $10 a week, that would mean $26,000, and we would set a generosity record of 73% participation.
As we look forward to 2025, we anticipate continued growth at St. Paul’s. It’s wonderful news, but to support our growth we need everyone’s help. We cannot do more in 2025 with the same resources we had in 2024. We invite everyone to prayerfully discern what they can give to the 2025 stewardship campaign. Consider how St. Paul’s serves as a beacon to our members and to many in the Wilmington community. Reflect on the ministries at St. Paul’s that sustain you and bring you joy. Think about the ways in which St. Paul’s has helped your faith grow and your trust in God deepen. And remember, Jesus’s words, “For where your treasure is, your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21
Your pledge card and a post-paid return envelope were mailed to you. You may also pledge online (see the button at the top of this page). For help in determining the amount of your pledge, please consider the tithing chart on the back of your pledge card. Give as you are financially able; stretch if at all possible. We hope to receive all pledges/gifts by November 17, our In-gathering Sunday, so the vestry can begin planning the budget shortly after Thanksgiving.
In faith and thanksgiving, let us keep our lamps lit and hearts on fire.
Your Stewardship Team,
Karen Day (chair), Jack McElroy, Anne O’Dell, Denise Sheehan, Marcia and Frank Wolf
Karen Day,
Chair
Rev. Caleb Lee
Jack McElroy
Anne O’Dell
Denise Sheehan
Frank Wolf
Marcia Wolf
September 27, 2024
Dear faithful people of St. Paul’s,
As we enter Stewardship season and begin the work of developing an operating budget for 2025, I offer my thoughts on this year’s theme, Lamps Lit, Hearts on Fire.
Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.”
– Matthew 5:14-15
Beloved, Jesus calls us to shine and we are in fact, shining. We continue to attract newcomers and welcome them with St. Paul’s notable worship and hospitality. Our choir serves as a beacon to our members and the community through the leadership of our first full-time Organist and Director of Music, Brendan Conner. Our children and youth programs continue to grow under the guidance of Children’s Ministry Coordinator, Meaghan Thomas and our new Associate for Youth and Parish Life, Isaac McDowell. We are making necessary repairs to maintain our historic building, and we are extending the Gospel’s reach into our community through our many outreach efforts. In other words, we are shining the light of Christ, both internally and externally. St. Paul’s is radiating hope and good news in a weary world.
And this past spring, St. Paul’s embarked on the largest fundraising effort in our modern history. With God’s help, we have raised over 75% of the funds needed to begin renovations that will improve accessibility throughout our church campus for ALL people. Our lamps are lit!
How will we keep these lamps lit? Will we be prepared to welcome and nurture those whom God is sending through our doors? Our treasure, time and talent are the means through which we contribute to what God is doing in the world, and in particular, at St. Paul’s.
“Without God, we cannot. Without us, God will not.” – St. Augustine of Hippo
In a few weeks, St. Paul’s Stewardship Team will mail the annual appeal for funds to support our church operations in the coming year. Please pray with me about what it means to the keep the “lamps lit” at St. Paul’s and what your financial contribution might be to this appeal.
Think about the impact that St. Paul’s has made in your own life. In what ways has your experience of St. Paul’s ignited a spark in you: a divine fire that calls you back through those big red doors each week. In what ways has St. Paul’s made a real difference to you and to those around you? Your answer is where God meets us in real life.
I believe that St. Paul’s is a vessel through which God in Christ is doing something beautiful in and through us for the building up of the Kingdom. So let’s keep shining and may our hearts burn with the fire of Christ’s love.
Faithfully,
The Reverend Caleb J. Lee
Rector